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Ireland is outside Schengen and runs its own visa. If your passport needs one, you file an application on Ireland's online system, then submit your documents at VFS Global in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. The fee is EUR 60 for single entry and EUR 100 for multiple entry, plus the VFS service charge. Irish immigration says to expect a decision about 8 weeks after it receives your documents.
Visa or waiver: check your passport first
Ireland has a visa-required list and a visa-free list, and the Irish immigration service has a "check if you need a visa" tool. Do that first. Then look at the two waivers that matter to people living in the UAE.
Short Stay Visa Waiver Programme. Nationals of listed countries who entered the UK on certain UK short stay visas can visit Ireland for under 90 days without an Irish visa. The list includes India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Your Irish visit must end before your UK permission ends. A UK ETA cannot be used. For the Gulf nationals on the list, only a UK visa issued before counts.
British Irish Visa Scheme. This gives one visa for Ireland and the UK, but only to Chinese nationals living in China and Indian nationals living in India when they apply. An Indian who lives in Dubai is not covered. If that is you, you apply to Ireland for a normal Irish visa.
Fees
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Single entry visa | EUR 60 |
| Multiple entry visa | EUR 100 |
| Transit visa | EUR 25 |
| VFS service charge | Paid to VFS on top; see the VFS UAE site |
Source: Immigration Service Delivery, visa fees page, and the Embassy of Ireland in the UAE, checked . Visa fees are non-refundable. Nationals of Indonesia and Sri Lanka, among others, are on the visa fee exempt list. We could not read the VFS fee, so we do not quote it.
What Dubai agencies charge
Dubai agencies publish about AED 575 to AED 1,400 for help with an Irish visa (published prices of 2 Dubai agencies, checked ). The two prices are built differently, so ask what each includes and whether the Irish fee is on top.
How the application works
- Create the application on AVATS. This is the Automated Visa Application and Tracking System. Answer every question fully, then print and sign the summary sheet. Keep the 8 digit AVATS reference number from its first page.
- Pay the fee. In the UAE, you pay the visa fee and the VFS service charge to VFS.
- Submit at VFS. You can use VFS Abu Dhabi or Dubai. VFS passes the file to the Embassy of Ireland in Abu Dhabi, which decides it. In some cases you may also give biometrics.
You apply from your home country or the country where you are a legal resident, so a Dubai residence visa is the base for a UAE-based filing. Each traveller files alone, children included, because Ireland has no family visa and no e-visa.
Documents
- Passport valid at least 6 months after you leave Ireland, or 12 months for a long stay visa.
- Two photographs that meet the Irish specification.
- Copies of previous passports if the originals are not available.
- Supporting documents for your trip, from the Irish immigration guidance.
- The printed and signed AVATS summary sheet.
All documents must be originals that are legible and verifiable, in English or Irish or with a certified translation, with photocopies of every passport page. Original and photocopied papers go in separate sets.
Work visas from Dubai
The visa is the second step. A non-EEA, Swiss or UK national who wants to work in Ireland needs a valid Employment Permit or Atypical Permission first. Then, depending on nationality, a visa. Work shorter than 90 days uses a short stay employment visa. Longer work uses a long stay one. A visit visa does not allow paid or unpaid work.
Timing and refusals
Prepare about three months before you travel and wait for the decision before buying tickets. A visa lets you travel to Ireland. An immigration officer at the border can still refuse entry.
If your visa is refused, the letter says why and whether you can appeal. An appeal has no fee, must arrive within 2 months of the letter and goes by courier to the Abu Dhabi Visa Office, not by email. False or misleading information or a forged document can lead to refusal without an appeal and a ban of up to 5 years.
How it works with us
You send the passport copy, your residence visa and a line about your trip on WhatsApp, or use the form on this page. A visa adviser checks whether you need the visa or a waiver applies, then gives you one total price before you pay. The team fills in AVATS with you, builds the document set, books your VFS slot and follows the file to the decision. DubaiVisaDesk.com is a private visa service. The Embassy of Ireland alone decides your application.
Ireland keeps the visa fee if you are refused. Before you pay us, the adviser tells you in writing which part of our total, if any, comes back in that case.
Official sources
- Embassy of Ireland in the UAE, visas for Ireland: VFS Abu Dhabi and Dubai, documents, appeals, payment.
- Immigration Service Delivery, visa fees: EUR 60, EUR 100, EUR 25 and fee exemptions.
- Immigration Service Delivery, short stay visa waiver programme: eligible countries and conditions.
- Immigration Service Delivery, British Irish Visa Scheme: who is covered.
- Immigration Service Delivery, coming to work in Ireland: employment permit and work visa rules.
Next on the map: the UK visa from Dubai, the Schengen visa from Dubai, the US visa from Dubai and the Canada visa from Dubai, or see all visas from Dubai and visa-free countries for UAE residents.
